Time control mechanism



2 SHEETSSHEET 1 Filed July 27. 1951 pezz'ouflrz'zzee INVENTOR.

March 3, 1953 D. B. BRIZZEE 2,630,501

TIME CONTROL MECHANISM Filed July 27, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR. 36 fiezz'vzg apfirizzee Patented Mar. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to the combination of a clock and an electric switch operated thereby.

An object of this invention is to provide in a clock, a switch operatively connected with the clock mechanism which may be connected with a radio or other electrical appliance, for closing a circuit to the appliance at a predetermined time and for a predetermined period.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a clock, a switch formed of a pair of spaced contacts, and a bridging contact adapted to engage between the pair of contacts, the bridging contact being movable by the clock mechanism, and the pair of contacts being endwise adjustable to thereby vary the time and the length of period of engagement of the bridging contact between said pair of contacts.

A further object of this invention is to provide a switch operated by a clock mechanism for periodically closing a circuit operatively connected to the switch a selected length of time whereby a radio may be turned on for a selected program, or other electrical appliances may be operatively connected for a selected period.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more par ticularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clock. constructed according to an embodiment of this invention, having a timer for periodically actuating an electric switch,

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing the switch in the closed position,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates generally a clock having a switch H therein which is periodically closed for a selected length of time for closing an electric circuit to an electrical appliance such as the radio [2.

The switch II is actuated in timed relation to the movement of the hands of the clock and is associated with a mechanism carried by the shaft of the hour hand. The clock as shown in the drawings is a spring-wound clock having a spring and gear train 14. The hour hand I is fixed on the end of the hour hand shaft l6 and the minute hand I! is carried by the minute hand shaft l8.

The switch H is formed with a lever l9 rockably mounted between a pair of supporting posts 20. The posts 20 are fixed on a base 2| which in turn is fixed on the back wall of the clock mechanism l4. One spring as 22 presses one end as 24 of the lever 19 downwardly into engagement with the inner surface of a gear 25, freely rotatable about the hour hand shaft 16. Another spring as 26 presses the other end 2! of the lever I9 downwardly on the opposite side of the pivot for the lever, thereby substantially balancing the lever I9.

The spring 22 exerts a slightly greater force on the end 24 of the lever so that this end of the lever will be biased against the gear 25.

A gear as 28 is fixed on a shaft 29 which is rotated by the clock mechanism [4 at the same speed as the minute hand shaft IS. A boss as 30 is fixed on the gear 25 on the inner side thereof and a cylindrical cam 3| is fixed on the outer surface of the gear 25. The outer end of the cylindrical cam 31 is adapted to engage a pin 32 carried by a washer 34 fixed on the hour hand shaft I6.

The gear 25, together with the boss 30 and cam 31 are slidable on the shaft 16 and constantly pressed outwardly so that the cam 3| is pressed into engagement with the pin 32. A spring 35 fixed on the back surface of the clock mechanism l4 engages the inner end of the boss 30 for pressing the gear 25 outwardly. The spring 35 is a flat spring formed with a pair of offset arms engageable on opposite sides of the V the wall on which the bearing 38 is secured and an adjusting screw 40 is rotatable in the bearing 39 and extends into the opening of the boss or bearing 38.

The contact carrier or supporting member 31 is threadable on the outer end of the screw 40 for adjustment along the length of the bearing 38. The contact members 36 are insulated from the carrier 31 by an insulating wall 4|. The contact supporting member 3'! is formed with a groove on one side thereof within which a set screw as 42 threadable in the bearing 38 is adapted to engage for securing the member 31 against rotation while permitting sliding movement affected by threaded engagement of the screw 40.

A bridging member as 44 is carried by the end 2'! of the lever I9 for contacting both of the contact members 36. The bridging member 44 is insulated from the lever [9 by an insulating wall or insulated portion of the lever 45.

For adjusting the screw 40 and the contacts 36 a support 46 for the screw 40 is fixed on the inner surface of the clock mechanism as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. The support 46 is substantially L-shaped, having an outer horizontal arm 41 fixed to the clock mechanism and a forwardly extending arm 48 extending rearwardly relative to the face of the clock.

A bearing as 49 is supported in offset relation to the rearwardly extending arm 48 for rotatably supporting the adjusting screw 40. A bevelled gear as 50 is fixed on the inner end of the screw 40 for engagement with a correlated bevelled gear 5|. An adjusting shaft 52 is journalled in the bearing 54 fixed on the inner end of the arm 48. A bevelled gear 5| is fixed on the inner end of the shaft 52 and the shaft extends outwardly of the clock casing. An adjusting handle or knob as 55 is fixed on the outer end of the shaft 52 so that the operator may adjust the contacts 36 relative to the bridging member 44 for determining the period within which the circuit may be completed.

In the use and operation of this clock embodying the timed switch described above, a person may select a definite period within which the electric appliance I2 would be connected in the electric circuit. By rotating the knob 55 so that the index 56 thereon registers with the indicia 51 fixed on the outer surface of the clock housing the index 56 will indicate the time during which the bridging member 44 will be in contact with the contact members 36.

As the hour hand rotates, the gear 25 will be normally pressed to an outer position so that the lever l9 bearing against the gear 25 will position the bridging member 44 out of contact with the contact members 36. Upon rotation of the gear 28, the gear 25 and cam 3| will be rotated about the shaft l6 until the offset portion of the cam rides over the pin 32. At this time the gear '25 will slide outwardly on the shaft 16 so that the end 2! of the lever will be moved inwardly. At this time the bridging member 44 will come into engagement with the contacts 36 thereby completing the circuit to the electrical appliance.

Rotation of the knob 55 will directly affect the slidable position of the contact carrier 3? thereby determining the period within which the circuit will be completed. When the period is to be a short period as 30 minutes indicated in Figure 1, the contact carrier 31 will be moved to a position substantially half way the length within which it is slidably supported within the bearing 38. When the bridging member 44 is moved to engagement with the contacts 36, only one-half of the surface of the contacts 36 will be engaged by the bridging member 44 so that as the cam surface of the cam 3| is rotated the bridging member 44 will be gradually moved out of engagement with the contact members. If a longer period of time is desired, the contact carrier 3! is moved downwardly and outwardly so that initially the bridging member 44 will engage farther in between the contact members 36. If a short interval of contact is desired, the bridging member will be engaged with a short distance of the length of the contacts 36. With this arrangement it can be readily seen that the time interval within which the switch is closed is determined by the position of the contacts when the bridging member 44 is initially engaged therebetween. The gear 25 is provided with a series of blocks or projections disposed in the path of lever [9 for rocking lever 19 to circuit breaking position at the end of each hour, there being a block 60 for each hour.

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A time switch for a clock comprising a gear rotatable about and slidable on the hour hand shaft between the clock face and motor, a second gear engaging said first gear and operatively connected to the clock gear train, spring means biasing said first gear toward said clock face, a correlated cam carried by said hour hand shaft and a cam follower carried by said first gear for periodically sliding said first gear, a supporting post, a lever pivotally mounted to said post, a spring biasing one end of said lever toward engagement with one side of said first ear, a balancing spring engaging said lever on the opposite side of said post, said first spring being stronger than said balancing spring rockably mounted in said clock, a screw threadably mounted in said clock, a pair of spaced apart contact members carried by one end of said screw and electrically insulated therefrom, and a contact bridging member carried by the other end of said lever and electrically insulated therefrom engageable between said contact members in certain positions of said sliding gear to close a circuit therebetween and spaced therefrom in other positions, and the position of said screw determining the relative distance between said contacts and said bridging member thereby determining the length of contact therebetween.

DELIOU BERTHA BRIZZEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,395,806 Finke Nov. 1, 1921 1,911,038 Rauh May 23, 1933 2,300,513 Lenehan Nov. 3, 1942 

